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| Axios What's Next |
| By Joann Muller, Jennifer A. Kingson and Alex Fitzpatrick · Jun 06, 2022 |
| Alex here. Would you ride in a driverless taxi? I'm not sure I'm ready to make that leap — but then again, having lived in New York City for a decade, I've had my fair share of terrifying human drivers. So maybe it's time we let the bots take the wheel. - Read Joann Muller's story below for the latest on the robotaxi revolution, and let us know your thoughts at whatsnext@axios.com.
Today's Smart Brevity count: 897 words ... 3.5 minutes. |
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| 1 big thing: S.F.'s robotaxis turn the meter on |
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| A Cruise autonomous vehicle in San Francisco. Photo courtesy of Cruise |
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| General Motors-backed Cruise got the green light from California regulators last week to operate a commercial robotaxi service in San Francisco, Joann reports, marking a watershed moment in the autonomous vehicle rollout. Why it matters: AV developers have spent tens of billions of dollars trying to develop and commercialize self-driving technology. While Cruise is still a fledgling business, its for-pay driverless taxi service will be the first in a densely populated U.S. city when it launches within the next couple of weeks. - Of note: Alphabet's Waymo has been running a robotaxi service in suburban neighborhoods outside Phoenix for a year and a half. It too is pursuing a robotaxi license in San Francisco's busier — and thus more challenging — environs.
Details: A California Public Utilities Commission permit allows Cruise to offer driverless passenger service using a fleet of up to 30 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles, without a safety driver present. The catch: The paid service is limited to about one-third of the city — and downtown is off-limits. - Cars can't go above 30 miles per hour, and the operation is limited to 10pm to 6am, when traffic is lighter.
- Cruise vehicles won't be allowed on highways, and they must avoid active highway-rail crossings and lanes with light rail transit.
- They won't operate in heavy rain, fog or smoke, either, per the company's own rules.
Yes, but: Despite the limitations on fared rides, Cruise will continue other operations throughout the entire city to prepare for expansion. The big picture: Being able to charge fares is an important milestone for Cruise. But the business — which isn't yet making money — has a long way to go to reach GM's revenue target of $50 billion by 2030. What to watch: For now, Cruise's AV fleet consists of electric Chevrolet Bolts, but the company hopes to soon deploy its purpose-built Cruise Origin van as well. Read the story. |
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| 2. The job market's new normal? |
 The U.S. job market may finally be starting to release some steam, Axios' Neil Irwin and Courtenay Brown report. - That's the takeaway from Friday's jobs report, which shows a labor market that, while extremely healthy, seems to be cooling.
Driving the news: Employers added 390,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said — the lowest growth in a year. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6%, holding close to the lowest levels seen in the past half-century. - Wage growth, while still strong at 0.3% for the month, receded from its recent highs. Average hourly earnings were up 5.2%, compared to 5.5% in April.
Yes, but: Some major companies — especially in the tech sector — are announcing hiring freezes or layoffs amid inflation fears: - Tesla has frozen hiring and could cut staff by as much as 10%, per an email seen by Reuters.
- Twitter has stopped hiring — and has even rescinded some previously made offers, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.
- Crypto exchange Coinbase is freezing hiring "for the foreseeable future."
Read the rest. |
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| 3. New York moves against crypto |
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| Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios |
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| New York State is poised to temporarily ban most fossil-fuel cryptocurrency mining, Axios' Crystal Kim reports, after the state Senate sent a two-year moratorium to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk. Why it matters: If Hochul signs the bill, New York will become the latest jurisdiction to pump the breaks on crypto mining amid environmental concerns. Details: The bill temporarily blocks new crypto mining efforts that use energy-intensive proof-of-work authentication methods powered by fossil fuels. - It also calls for an environmental impact study.
- Existing permitted mining operations would be grandfathered in.
Driving the news: Struggling post-industrial towns across upstate New York have become a haven for bitcoin miners in search of cheap electricity — but locals have bemoaned the ramifications of their new, energy-hungry neighbors. Read the rest. |
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| A message from Axios |
| Smart Brevity® for your business |
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| We took the lessons — and data — of our best writers and built a tool to distill important information and distribute it one-to-many. Today 300+ organizations are using it for all-staff, client, member, and other stakeholder communications. See how it works. |
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| 4. Yet another Tesla probe |
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| An aerial view of imported cars, including Tesla electric vehicles, parked at Taipei Port in Taiwan on Nov. 11, 2021. Photo: Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images |
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| More than 750 Tesla drivers have complained about unexpected braking while using the electric vehicles' partially automated driving systems, Axios' Erin Doherty reports. Driving the news: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed the figures in a Friday letter to Tesla, AP reports. The big picture: NHTSA opened its braking investigation in February after receiving 354 complaints. - The investigation spans 416,000 vehicles from model years 2021 and 2022, per AP.
- It's NHTSA's third new probe of Tesla's driving features over a six-month period.
What to watch: NHTSA asked the automaker to respond to questions by June 20, Reuters reports. Read the rest. |
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| 5. One fun thing: Pay phone rescue |
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| Bertrand Fan's home pay phone. Photo courtesy of Bertrand Fan |
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| Remember Jennifer's recent story about the Big Apple's last pay phone getting hauled off to a museum? Well, Slack platform engineer Bertrand Fan decided it would be fun to rescue one from eBay to install at home. - "I looked up the address printed on it and it had come out of a casino in Vegas, which probably explained why it appeared to have personally smoked a pack of cigarettes," Fan writes in his blog post about the project.
A little electrical and mounting work later, and boom, Fan had a working home pay phone — seen above. - Rather than connect it to the outside world, he set up a two-way connection between the pay phone and a see-through phone in his daughter's room.
- "My daughter is 5," Fan writes, "I don't want her dialing 911."
- He adds: "At random hours in the day I'll be working in my office, and the pay phone will ring and my daughter will tell me about her dolls for a minute or so. ... Most of the time, it's a nice break."
Read more. |
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| A message from Axios |
| Smart Brevity® for your business |
| |
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| We took the lessons — and data — of our best writers and built a tool to distill important information and distribute it one-to-many. Today 300+ organizations are using it for all-staff, client, member, and other stakeholder communications. See how it works. |
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| Was this email forwarded to you? Get your daily dose of What's Next magic by signing up for our free newsletter here. |
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